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Tuesday, September 25, 2007

Upcoming Release: The Queen's Handmaiden by Jennifer Ashley

A novel of the early years of Elizabeth Tudor-as told by the spirited niece of her real-life governess.

Her name is Eloise Rousell

.Daughter of a well-bred lady and a strolling player, she lived her early years in peaceful obscurity. But then her father died-and her new stepfather wanted none of her. So she was sent to her aunt, Kat Ashley-governess to the young Elizabeth Tudor.

In the tumultuous household of the princess in exile, Eloise finds her destiny-best friend, confidante, lady-in-waiting, and favored seamstress of the fiery girl who would become the greatest monarch of all time.

Through a decade of plots and counter-plots, tragedies and triumphs, Eloise, like her aunt, is a constant in Elizabeth's life. Risking her heart- and her head-in service to the cause of seeing Elizabeth on the throne, Eloise is a bright, brave, sprightly witness to history. This is her story.

Jennifer Ashley is normally a name associated with romances (including some fantastic pirate romances!), but she also was one of the authors who was involved in the Six Wives of Henry VII series that was published under the author name Laurien Gardner last year, so this isn't her first foray into historical fiction. On her blog, Jennifer has said:

The book takes Elizabeth from the death of her father, Henry VIII, through the reigns of Edward and Mary, to the death of Elizabeth's governess, Kat Ashley, in 1565.

I wrote this with the idea that people who knew very little of Elizabeth's early life (which is usually not gone into in much depth) could come away with a portrait of Elizabeth as princess and her first challenges as queen.

Release date is October 2. I will certainly be keeping an eye out for this one!

Past challenges

HT Recommends

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